


So What's It Gonna Be?

by AstriferousSprite



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, gratuitous use of the word "buddy", it's a musical in high school but it's not High School Musical ya dig, overuse of commas, really minor violence, this barely has any basis in reality i just want everyone to be HAPPY damn it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 01:51:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7957726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstriferousSprite/pseuds/AstriferousSprite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn Tyson is a pretty good football player for the Ileenium High Knights, though one with no actual desire to be on the team. Enter a musical about pirates and Poe Dameron, the gorgeous senior who's definitely got the lead role. When Finn finds out they're co-stars, well, that's where the trouble starts.<br/>Aka the high school drama AU you never knew you needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Looks like SOMEONE doesn't have his head in the game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally written for the Stormpilot Big Bang, but since it got cancelled, I'm just gonna publish this anyway.  
> Also, clarification: I've never really been in a musical, only in two plays when I was a kid, so this is bound to be full of inaccuracies. I apologize in advance.

It started with Phasma.

Finn was changing out of his jersey when she asked him for a word. “Right now, in fact,” she added glaring at him through her helmet. “And put something on.”

Nervously, he quickly pulled his shirt on and followed her to the side of the locker room, away from the rest of the team. (He already knew that when Phasma gave you an order, you _followed_ it.)

“I noticed you were hesitant to tackle Johnson earlier today when you were requested to,” she said, always getting straight to the point.

Finn looked down.

“It is of utmost importance that you always follow orders, Tyson.” Phasma crossed her arms. “This is a team. We need your compliance.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re a good player, Tyson.” This was probably as close she’d ever get to affection. “We cannot afford to lose you.”

He nodded.

“Good.” She patted his shoulder. “See you tomorrow.”

And then she walked away.

 _Did I really have to, though?_ Finn thought to himself as he continued changing in silence, the rest of the team already clothed. Trevor wasn’t even in possession of the ball, so there would be no reason for him to tackle him needlessly. But that was the Ileenium High Football team—obsessed with results, regardless of which JV rookie got trampled in the process. And, of course, their methods were never to be questioned.

Honestly, Finn felt like this school took football _way_ too seriously (especially Phasma, who was _British_ ). But what could he do? He was a star football player, and the coach was a jackass.

Fantastic, he thought drily, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he left. He was stuck here forever.

 

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic.”

“You don’t get it!” Finn loved Rey, but honestly, she really didn’t understand Ileenium’s obsession with sports. Maybe that was luck.

She ignored him. “If you hate football so much, why don’t you just quit?”

He laughed. “Rey, you know I can’t do that. Snoke’ll have my ass if I even try to leave.” He sighed. “And that’s assuming Phasma doesn’t kill me first.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, she won’t kill you.”

“Oh, she will.” They kept walking. “And I can’t just skip—”

“Or—” Rey gestured with her hand. “You could find an excuse to get out of practice.”

“Like what?”

“Didn’t you say you’d like to act?”

Shit. “Rey, I don’t know if I was serious about that—I mean, can I even get into anything?”

She shrugged. “Maybe the school musical?”

Indeed, they had reached the drama wing. The walls were covered in posters and sign-up forms, for some musical about pirates. Could he possibly…?

Rey beckoned to the sign-ups. “Come on, Finn, you can do it!”

He blankly stared at them.

“ _Finn_ , you gonna do it?”

“I…maybe,” he stammered.

“Maybe? Finn, come _on_ , they’re due tomorrow!” she said, scrunching her face up in annoyance.

That’s when he heard _them_ coming.

“Come on, just ask me if they were expensive,” said a familiar voice. Finn swore silently.

“You’re not fooling me this time, Dameron!”

“Just ask me, Jess!”

Rey nudged his shoulder. “You ok?”

“ _Poe_ ,” he whispered, feeling all his confidence shrivel up and die right then.

The aforementioned man was now fully in his field of vision, surrounded by all his drama friends. “Hey, it’s not gonna kill you!”

“It’s a trap!” yelled Jess, while one of his other friends sighed and asked, “Fine. Were your ear piercings expensive?”

Poe grinned. “Not at all, Snap, they were a _buck-an-ear!_ ” He laughed, pointing finger guns at everyone else.

Jess groaned. Everyone else reacted with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. Someone yelled, “That was the worst, Poe.”

Rey giggled. “Oh my god, that was terrible.”

“Always willing to please,” said Poe, taking an exaggerated bow. Oh.

 _Shit_.

And then Poe _looked at him_. “Hey, buddy.”

That’s it. He was dead.

“…hi,” he said, trying to smile without looking too much like an ass. “Uh, how are you?”

“I’m good.” He walked over to where Finn was rooted to the floor. “Are you signing up for the play?”

And suddenly, in a contradictory turn of events, it was that which brought back Finn’s senses.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Yes, I am. I’m signing up, yeah.”

“Nice!” Poe smiled. “And you?”

Rey stared at him.

Finn nudged her shoulder. She nodded. “Er, yeah!”

Poe shot them a thumbs up, before walking back to his squad. “Guess I’ll see ya both on Friday!”

For a moment, neither of them could say anything.

Then, Rey grabbed one of the sign-up sheets, grabbed Finn’s shoulders, and screamed, “Oh, my _God_.”

“Did he just thumbs up!?” he yelled, grabbing hers.

“Did you see that cute girl!?”

“He did a _thumbs up_ , Rey!”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this!”

“I can’t believe _you’re_ doing this!”

“Ahhhhhh!”

“ _Ahhhhhhhhh!_ ”

 

“Jesus.”

Finn looked over the form again. “Ok, name, grade, whatever. Height…hair color?” He looked at Rey with a puzzled expression. “What do they need our hair color for?”

“Dunno,” she mumbled from her position on the couch. “Hey, who’re you gonna audition as?”

 “I mean, realistically I’m only gonna make it as an ensemble member.”

“And ideally?”

He looked at the character sheet. “Well, Poe Dameron’s definitely gonna get the lead, so maybe…Saltlegs?”

Rey shot him a lazy thumbs up. “I could see that happening.”

“Have you heard of Buccaneers before?” asked Finn, scrawling down his answers. Also, he still couldn’t believe that was actually the name of the play. _Buccaneers_.

She nodded. “I haven’t seen it, but I’ve got the soundtrack.”

“So it’s basically about pirates?”

“Basically, yeah.” She tapped her mouth with her pencil. “There’s Captain O’Malley—”

“ _Poe_.”

“—and he’s all suave and cool, and Saltlegs is his first mate who…well, they’re really good friends.”

That pause was awfully suspicious.

“And who do you want to be?” he asked, as he wrote down the lie that he’d have “no conflicts with rehearsals.”

She grinned. “Greg.”

“ _Greg?_ ”

“Yeah, she’s cool!”

“With that name?” He scoffed. “Sure.”

Rey swatted him in the shoulder. “Don’t speak like that about the most badass pirate in all the seven seas!”

“Listen, I’m not scared of anyone named Greg!”

She waved her pencil in his face. “That’s what Saltlegs says before his hand gets cut off, you know.”

“ _Seriously?_ ” he said, swatting it out of the way. “I might lose a hand?”

She nodded. “And one guy gets eaten by crocodiles.”

Finn smiled. “This should be interesting.”

 

“A musical?”

Mr. Tyson looked at his son with some surprise. “Never knew you were still into acting.”

“Well, you learn something new every day,” he said, helping himself to more spaghetti.

“Fair enough,” he said, scrawling his signature and sliding the form back to Finn. “And it won’t conflict with football?”

“No,” he lied, stuffing his face with food.

Meanwhile, his mom discussed theater with Rey. “You act a lot?”

“Some, yeah,” Rey said, beaming. “You know I was actually Queen Titania once?”

“No way, when?”

“Three years ago, I think?” she said, taking a large bite of pasta. “Really good, by the way.”

Wait. “You were in Midsummer’s?” said Finn, wide-eyed.

She grinned. “Hey, you learn something new every day.”

 

To be honest, Finn was already getting sick.

“Can you tone it down a bit?” he yelled to Rey, who was busy belting out “Here I Rise” at the top of her lungs. “I can hardly hear myself think.”

“ _Pauper girl no more, I rule them all!_ ” she yelled over the sound of the shower. “Sorry, what?”

He sighed. “Never mind.” He stood up. “Mom, dad, I’m taking a walk.”

His parents murmured their approval. Gratefully, he ran downstairs and out the door, hoping the fresh air and silence would help him concentrate a little more on the monologue he had to deliver.

Ok. He was doing this.

Finn started pacing around the block, looking down at the audition packet in front of him. Thankfully, Saltlegs’ monologue wasn’t very long, so it wouldn’t take too long to memorize.

He cleared his throat for no one listening, took a deep breath, and began speaking.

“I trust O'Malley. Well, I've been his first mate for the past four years, of course I know him. O'Malley may be a bit cocky sometimes, but he does mean well.”

He turned the corner.

“…You know, we’ve never fought once, not—” He stopped.

Because _Poe Dameron_ and his god damn corgi were looking straight at him.

“…properly,” he whispered. Oh, hell, he couldn’t do this with people listening.

“Hey, buddy!” said Poe, waving. “Didn't know you lived around here!”

“Um, yeah,” he said lamely, as Poe’s dog ran over and started barking. “Learn something new every day, I guess.”

“Bebe, back!” Poe sighed. “Sorry, she just gets excited around people."

“That's fine,” he said, bending down and petting her head. She immediately started licking his hand.

Poe laughed. “Yeah, she does that.” He whistled, and Bebe came bouncing back to him. “Anyway, was I interrupting something?”

Finn cursed silently. “Oh, nothing, it was nothing,” he said, standing up and wiping his hands on his pants. “I mean, nothing _important_.”

“Trying out for Salt?”

God, Finn just wanted to disappear on the spot. “Y-yeah.” He quickly added, “But I don’t think I’ll get it.”

“Who knows?” Poe shrugged. “Anyway, you wanna know what I think?”

 _Oh, no_. “…sure?”

Poe walked over, Bebe lagging at his heels. “I think you speak really clearly, and you’ve got a lot of confidence.” He grinned. “Buddy, you’re actually pretty good. The one thing I’d suggest is adding more emotion.”

Even now, Finn could hardly believe that Poe was actually praising his acting skills. That is, Poe fucking Dameron. Theater god of Ileenium.

Instead of vocalizing all of that, he nodded slowly. “So, how should I do that?”

“Try to get in character.” Finn noticed that even while holding on to Bebe’s leash, Poe still moved his hands a lot while he talked. “Just imagine you’re Salt right now. You’re this cynical, smart-ass pirate, and your best friend is being slandered.”

Finn nodded again.

“So imagine how he would feel in this moment.”

“Probably a bit pissed,” he said, shrugging.

“Anything else?”

He pursed his lips. “Well, he really admires the guy, so…maybe a bit in awe of him? Like, talking about how great he is?”

“You got it!” Poe smiled again—Jesus, he was positively _beaming_. “Now try to deliver your speech again, if you want.

Finn took another deep breath. He imagined Saltlegs, the cynic with a bandana. He imagined Poe as the charming captain, as his best friend.

His heart skipped a beat. “I trust O’Malley.” Somehow, those words felt more honest that time.

Poe nodded as he continued speaking. “Well, I've been his first mate for the past four years, of course I know him.” Finn found himself gesturing with his hands.

“O'Malley may be a bit cocky sometimes, but…he does mean well.” He grinned.” You know, we've never fought once, not properly. He's true to his word, that man. He doesn't always say the smartest words, but I do trust him. He's a good man, and an even better captain.”

He looked Poe in the eye. “So don't slander him like this.”

When he finished, he couldn’t really think of what to say. “…yeah.”

“Buddy,” Poe whispered, “that was awesome.”

Finn grinned, feeling his face warm up. “Thanks.”

“No problem!” Bebe started tugging at her leash. “Oh, I think I should go.”

“Ok—wait.”  Where was this sudden burst of confidence coming from? “I mean—is it ok if we have each other’s numbers? ...you know, just for advice and stuff.”

“Right, sure,” said Poe, smiling. “Nah, you’re a cool bro, I can give it to ya.”

And that’s how Finn’s short walk ended: with the audition in the bag and a cute boy’s number in his phone.

And Rey said he was hopeless, he thought, grinning.

 

“I’m hopeless.”

It was Friday all too soon.

“Finn, I swear to God I’m gonna puke,” said Rey, furiously snapping the hair tie on her wrist.

“You’ll do great,” he whispered, as more students filed in to the commons. “At least you know what you’re doing.”

She groaned. “Not really.”

“Listen, you’re a great actress, you’ll be fine.” He sighed. “Unlike me.”

The door to the theater opened.

A teacher appeared. “Rey?” she called out.

Rey buried her face in her hands. “Oh, God.”

“Come on, you’ll be fine!” he said, patting her shoulder.

“See you if I don’t die,” she said gravely, standing up and heading to the theater.

“Break a leg!” he called out behind her. She pretended to swoon, before heading through the double doors.

As soon as she was gone, Finn wrapped an arm around her backpack, making sure to guard it.

“Hey, Finn!”

_Oh, God._

If he wasn’t dead already, Poe saying his name with that enthusiasm as he sat down next to him definitely did the trick. “You ready?”

At the mention of the audition, Finn immediately felt nauseous. He gripped Rey’s bag tighter. “Not really.”

“I feel ya, buddy.” Poe leaned forward, and rested his cheek on his hand. “I’m freaking out, I’ve never sung in front of anyone— ‘sides my dad and Bebe, of course.”

“Wait, what?” Finn couldn’t buy that; how could Poe—drama club president and lead man of virtually every school production since his sophomore year—get _stage fright_? “You mean you’ve never been in a musical?”

“Ileenium hasn’t had a musical production since ’87—”

“But not anywhere else?” he said, wide-eyed. “You can’t tell me you’ve _never_ done a musical, bro.”

“I’ve never done a musical, bro,” he muttered. “I mean, I guess my singing’s ok, but I’m not in choir like Jess or Snap.” He sighed. “And Karé’s got a freaking _voice teacher_. I mean, I just can’t compete with that.”

Finn shook his head. “I don't believe that. You can’t be worse than I am.”

“Why not?” said Poe, smiling. “You’ve got the voice of an angel.”

Silently, Finn thanked his dark skin for not revealing how hard he was blushing right now. “I was tone deaf until sixth grade,” he said, trying his hardest to sound casual.

“I don’t believe _that_ ,” said Poe, lazily pointing in Finn’s direction.

“Well, you better.”

“I need to hear proof before I’ll come to that conclusion.”

“You first.”

“Oh, Hell no.

“Come _on_ , Dameron.” Finn grinned. He honestly couldn’t believe he, a mere mortal, was having such a casual conversation with _this_ guy. “Show me what you’ve got!”

In his defense, Poe threw up his arms. “I’m not embarrassing myself more than I need to.”

“You son of a—”

“Finn?”

“…oh God,” he whispered, as Rey walked out, smiling meekly. “Oh, my God.”

“Break a leg!” she said, grabbing her backpack, while Poe patted him on the back and said, “You’ll do fine, buddy!”

Finn smiled weakly. “I’ll try not to die.”

 

The audition wasn’t actually that bad.

Frankly, Finn put the entire scenario out of his mind for the next week. It was over, no use stressing over it.

Until Monday morning.

“Oh God.” Rey squeezed his hand hard enough to break it. “Finn, I can’t look.”

“You’ll be fine,” he said, feeling pretty queasy himself. “Rey, I promise you’ve gotten in.”

She just kept repeating “Oh God oh God oh God” under her breath, which was honestly starting to freak him out.

“Here, I'll read it,” he said, as Rey covered her eyes with her free hand. “Alright…”

He paused.

 _“What is it_?” Rey peeped from under her hand, nervous.

His heart skipped a beat. “Rey, you...you got in as Greg!”

She uncovered her face. “Really?”

"And I'm Saltlegs!" he said, grinning wildly. "We got in!"

" _Yes!_ " she squealed, pulling him in for a bone crushing hug. "I knew you could do it! I _knew_ it!"

"You're gonna be _amazing!_ "

"Congrats!"

That. That was someone else.

Finn looked up at Poe, who was wildly grinning. “Hey, I knew you'd get it!”

And then he patted him on the back.

Finn nodded, trying not to grin too idiotically. “Yeah.” He gestured back at the casting sheet. “And of course you're O'Malley, you're a natural.”

“Aw, shucks.” Poe rubbed his head. “Well, I hope your girl here'll be fine with all that.”

“I'm not his girl,” said Rey, as Finn cocked his head to the side.

Poe exhaled. “…we're love interests.”

Finn stopped breathing.

Poe patted him on the back again. “Well, I gotta go. Catch ya later today, bro.”

As soon as he was out of earshot, Finn turned to Rey and yelled, " _You never told me this!_ "

“Guilty as charged,” she said, smirking, as Finn buried his face in his hands. “It's not that bad, you're just singing a duet and all that jazz.”

“Do I kiss him?” he muttered, almost ready to die on the spot.

Beat.

“Well, you…”

“ _Reyyy_.”

“Yes.”

“Oh God.”

“Twice, actually.”

 _Fuck._ “I'm gonna die.”

“No, you won't.” The bell rang. “Come on, you hopeless romantic.”

“I'm literally going to die,” he repeated, unable to move.

Rey just rolled her eyes, grabbed his arm, and led him out of the drama wing. “Look who's talking.”

 

Poe was busy talking to his squad when Finn walked in to rehearsal.

Rather, _until_ Finn walked in.

“Finn, my man!” Poe walked over and hugged him. Surprised, Finn hugged him back.

“So, who’s this guy?” asked Jess.

Poe finally let go of him (regretfully). “Oh, right. This is Finn, you guys. Finn—” here he broadly gestured to everyone else. “—this is the guys.”

“And girls,” said a dark skinned girl in a blond braid, crossing her arms. Finn was pretty sure he saw her on the track team.

“Right, Karé. And the girls.”

Just then, two people walked into the Black Box: an overly excited Rey, and the drama teacher.

At once, everyone stopped talking.

“Alright, everyone, take a seat,” said Ms. Organa, with the most stiflingly neutral face Finn had seen on anybody. Finn wondered if every drama teacher was like this, or just her.

He pulled up a chair from the pile stacked against the wall. Poe sat on one side of him, while Rey sat on the other side after a quick hug-greeting (“This is happening!”).

“Today is just a read-through day,” she said, as she handed out scripts and lyrics to everyone. “Tomorrow, we’ll start going over some dance moves and ensemble songs, but for now, we’re just looking over the script.” Finn absentmindedly traced the title on the script with his finger. “So don’t worry about messing up today—we’re just getting a feel on the structure of the dialogue.”

“Thank god,” said Jess. Rey laughed a bit louder than everyone else.

“Alright, let’s start reading,” said Ms. Organa, ignoring Jess’s outburst (maybe she was just already used to it).

There was a shuffling of paper as everyone opened their scripts.

To his surprise, Finn actually had the first line past the ensemble number.

He looked at Poe, who flashed him a thumbs up.

Alright.

He was doing this.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Captain O’Malley, the most daring pirate this side of the sea!”

“Oh, what can I say?” Poe read from next to him. “I’m a natural at these kinds of things.”

“Modest as always.”

“Is it my fault I’m the best swordsman I know?”

“Careful, darling,”

Jesus. _Darling._

“don’t get cocky.”

_Jesus._

True to Rey’s word, there _was_ a scene where Greg cut off Salt’s hand (he tried not to scream too loudly this time around). Otherwise, the reading continued in a relatively uneventful fashion.

Until _that_ stage instruction.

_THEY KISS._

He blankly stared at those two words. How the hell was he supposed to deal with that?

Someone nudged him in the side.

“You’ve got the next line,” whispered Rey. _Shit._

Nervously, he cleared his throat and kept reading.

All in all, it went very smoothly. The climax was to be an epic swordfight, Rey's character apparently switched sides, and _sweet Jesus there was another kiss scene._

Either way, Ms. Organa seemed fairly satisfied at five-thirty, when she told everyone they did a good job and that she'd see them tomorrow. "And have a good evening, everyone."

"Organa seems pretty chill," said Rey on their walk home. Finn nodded, hardly listening. “I mean, she’s a bit serious, but I’m sure that…Finn, are you alright?”

“Huh? Um, yeah,” he stammered, nodding.

Rey frowned. “You look worried.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” He waved his hand. “I’m fine, honest. Just…”

Rey gently lay a hand on his shoulder. “What?”

“…I’m a little worried about the kiss, I guess.”

“Oh.”

They reached their house.

Finn unlocked the door. “It’s nothing serious, I’m just a bit nervous—”

“Because of Poe?”

He froze with his hand still on the doorknob.

Rey sighed, and walked in. “You _are_ kind of obvious, dear.”

“I mean—listen, it’s not just him—”                                

“But you’re nervous about being around him, I get it.” She set her bag down and immediately headed to the kitchen. “I mean, I still can’t believe that _Jess_ —”

“ _Wait_ —” He followed her, rubbing his forehead. “Rey, there’s a difference between acting with a practical god and them pretending to be in _love_ with you.” He lay his head on the wall. “God, he’s probably not gonna be bothered by it at all.”

Rey grunted, and shoveled more Doritos into her mouth.

“I mean, he’s probably straight, right?” He sighed. “I don’t know how I’ll do this. I’m gonna die of embarrassment during rehearsal.”

Rey patted his back. “I guess you’ll manage.” She waved the bag of Doritos in his face. “Come on, at least drown your sorrows with crisps before your parents get home.”

He nodded, miserably pouring himself a bowl and retreating to his room along with Rey.

“And, Finn? Please don’t die.”


	2. It begins

“Alright, let’s take a five-minute break.”

Everyone called out, “Thank you—five!”, lay down their scripts, and headed out the Black Box armed with granola bars and water bottles.

Finn slumped against the wall, pretty exhausted by rehearsal. Rey, on the other hand, decided to do the impossible.

She _approached Poe._

“Um, hey.”

“Heya, Rey!” he said enthusiastically, waving. “How are you?”

Finn wasn’t sure what Rey was getting herself into.

“Oh, I’m okay,” she said, smiling weakly. “Kind of tired, though.”

“Yeah, same,” he said, rubbing his head. “You can only dance for so long, huh?”

She giggled. “Tell me about it!”

Alright, then. Rey and Poe seemed to be fine.

Content that Rey wasn’t going to die of anxiety, Finn returned to his granola bar.

“…so, are you dating someone?”

Finn nearly choked.

He turned back to the two. Poe, for his part, looked absolutely confused, like he wasn’t sure how to answer this kid.

“…um, I’m flattered, but…” He awkwardly fiddled with his hands. “I don’t date underclassmen.”

“What?” Rey wrinkled her nose. “Oh, no! I wasn’t asking—no, I was—oh God, no, I—”

“—was just curious?” He shrugged. “It’s fine, it was just kinda weird. But I’m single.”

Finn’s heart started racing, before he forced himself to calm down. _He’s probably straight, Tyson._

“You?”

Rey shook her head. “Nah, I’m single too.”

“Oh, wait—” Poe wrinkled his brow. “So you and Finn aren’t…well…a thing?”

She laughed. “What? No! I’m gay!”

“Same!” he said, smiling.

At that point, Rey turned around and winked at Finn.

“Shut up,” he muttered, definitely about to die of embarrassment himself.

“I didn’t say anything!”

“Alright, break’s over, you guys.”

Rey walked over to Finn. “Alright, let’s go.” Leaning closer to him, she whispered, “You can figure out a plan of attack later.”

Finn couldn’t believe it.

 

“Phasma, a word.”

Kylo Ren was frowning when Phasma walked over to where he was standing, right outside the locker room. “Do you have _any_ information on Tyson?” he asked sourly.

Phasma shook her head. “He’s been missing from practice since last Thursday.” She crossed her arms. “And I know for a fact he’s not absent. I’ve seen him around all week.”

Kylo frowned.

She pursed her lips. “It seems that he’s deliberately skipping—”

Kylo punched the wall. “ _Damn it!_ ” Phasma didn’t flinch. “Why is every good player a _traitor!?_ ”

She stayed silent.

“Without him, Ileenium has _no_ chance next year against New Republic. _Why_ did he have to leave?”

She took a deep breath. “I assure you, Ren, we’ll have him back on the team as soon as possible.”

He snarled. “Good.”

 

That evening, Finn was lying on his bed, contemplating the impossible.

That is, texting Poe. Who Finn _still_ couldn’t believe was actually single. _Gay_ and single.

U up?

He lay his phone down, not expecting an answer at 9:42 at night.

Which was why he was a little startled when his phone buzzed.

ya ✌

_Oh my God._

He clenched his phone tightly, not believing that _Poe_ was actually _texting him._

On that note, he decided to wait a few more seconds before texting him back, just to not appear desperate.

So Rey said ur gay?

Shit. _What kind of ridiculous text is that?_

Hastily, he typed another message:

I mean its chill

And another one.

I’m bi  
Like super bi

Thankfully, Poe didn’t seem to be mad at him.

don’t sweat it, literally everyone knows

Lol  
                I may have thought u were str8 at some point

I can’t believe??

¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

“What’s so funny?”

Finn suddenly realized he had been giggling out loud. “N-nothing,” he whispered, mortified.

Rey got up and leaned next to him. “Texting someone?”

“Go back to sleep.”

“Is it Poe?”

“Yes, it’s Poe,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Rey patted his shoulder. “Well, at least you have the guts to actually text your crush.”

Finn grinned. “Whatever, just go back to bed.”

“ _Fine._ ”

 

It was a pretty good Friday morning, by any standards.

After Rey left him alone, Finn and Poe had talked for another half hour or so, before both agreed to get some sleep. Although, honestly, he could still hardly believe what happened all this week. The drama king of Ileenium was apparently a single gay nerd who overused Emojis and had a corgi.

 _What are the odds?_ he thought, walking in the courtyard after first period, grinning like the dork he was. _Maybe I actually have a chance._

Someone tapped his shoulder, albeit rather forcefully. Finn turned around, about to greet Rey with a snappy remark.

He wasn’t expecting two snarling white JV-ers his age.

“Whoa.” His eyes widened. “Trevor? Slip? What are you guys—”

“You _traitor!_ ” yelled Trevor, and grabbed his right arm.

“Wait—” Finn hardly had any time to react before Slip was on his other arm, and his former teammates were dragging him towards the large trash bins. “Shit, guys, what the _hell!?_ ”

“This is what you get for leaving us!” yelled Trevor, and threw him in.

 

Poe was walking outside when he heard a loud, metallic pounding.

“What the hell?” He walked towards the source of the noise, and froze when he saw what had happened. “Oh, _Jesus._ ”

Finn (at least he _thought_ it was Finn) was stuffed upside down in the trash, feet dangling right over the bin. From the shaking of the wall, he was probably pounding it with his fist.

“Shit—” He grabbed Finn’s ankles and pulled, managing to get his legs out. “Buddy, you alright?”

He received a muffled “oh god” as a response.

“Hang on,” he said, and grabbed his legs again. “Ok, I’m gonna pull, can you push yourself? Like—yeah, like that—”

He grunted as they both tried to pull Finn out, and ended up buckling under the weight. “ _Shit!_ ”

Finn finally tumbled out, accidentally falling on Poe, who was now cradling his right ankle.

“You alright?” whispered Finn, slowly pulling himself to a standing position.

“Nah, ‘m fine,” he said, grinning and trying not to scream. “More importantly, are _you_ fine?”

Finn frowned. “My head feels like it’s gonna explode.”

“Maybe you’re concussed,” said Poe, shrugging. “Here you can lean on— _ahhhhhh_.” He winced as he tried to stand up.

“It’s fine,” said Finn, holding out his hand. “You can lean on me.”

“No offense, buddy, but you’re literally swaying. I think we should get someone else to—”

“You need help?”

Poe looked up to see Ms. Organa drop the trash bag she was carrying. “Not really. Um, he’s concussed and I think I sprained something.”

Her gaze softened. “Here, I can walk you both to the nurse.”

“Thank you,” said both of the boys, as she helped them up and let them lean against her.

“Come on,” she said, and they began their slow walk.

 

“What happened?” asked Poe.

The two were recuperating in the clinic. Poe was lying on the cot across from Finn, with a bandage and ice pack on his ankle.

 “…I was thrown in there by my old teammates,” said Finn, holding his own ice pack closer to his forehead.

“Wait. Teammates?” Poe furrowed his brows in confusion.

Finn sighed, realizing he had to explain everything.

“I was on the football team. No, wait, I still am.”

“ _What?_ ” yelled Poe.

Finn winced.

“Sorry, buddy,” he said, lowering his voice. “but are you seriously telling me you’ve been skipping your own _practices_ just to be in the musical?”

“I was gonna leave, anyway,” said Finn, nervously drumming his fingers on the edge of the mattress.

“Then why haven’t you?”

“Coach Snoke will definitely kill me if I try to leave,” he whispered.

“Well, I believe you can do it.”

Finn looked up.

And damn it, he actually looked _concerned._ Not pissed off like he’d worried.

“You’re a brave man, Finn,” he said, smiling softly.

Finn smiled back, looking away.

“Finn, your father’s here.”

Finn looked back to the door as Mrs. Kalonia walked in, with his dad in tow. She smiled. “Take care now, alright?”

“Alright,” he said, slowly standing up and flashing Poe one last thumbs up.

 

“ _Where’s Tyson?_ ”

Phasma frowned at Kylo’s outburst. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him all afternoon—”

“He’s home.”

Phasma and Kylo turned their heads to face the out of breath sophomore who had just ran in speaking. “I heard he’s home with a concussion. I think someone threw him against a wall or something.”

Phasma raised her upper lip. “Do you know who?”

He didn’t say anything for a while. “…someone from our team, I think.”

“Which one of you did this?” she barked, turning to face the rest of the team.

Two shyly raised their hands.

She marched up to them. “Johnson. Friedman. Why did you do this?”

“H-he wasn’t coming to practice,” said Trevor, trembling.

“And now he won’t be for the next month.” She glared at them. “We just lost a perfectly good player due to your reckless actions. This behavior is unacceptable, and will not be tolerated. _Understood?_ ”

“Y-yes, sir.”

She turned back to Kylo. “Ren, stop punching the lockers. You have a practice to attend.”

“Wait until coach hears this,” he growled, ignoring her advice and pummeling the locker again. “Phasma, we _need_ to have him back on our team.”

“I understand,” she said, folding her arms. “But not until he’s capable.”

“Well, he better recover quickly,” he said, frowning. “We don’t stand a _chance_ against the Starbirds without him.”

“Indeed.” She sighed. “Indeed.”

 

Unfortunately, Finn missed Friday’s rehearsal (Rey later let him know that he didn’t miss much).

Thankfully, by Monday afternoon, he felt well enough to return to the theater.

Greeted by thunderous applause.

“Welcome back!” said Poe, grinning and hobbling over on his crutches. “Thank God you’re better after what those jackasses did to you.”

“ _Language,_ Dameron,” said Jess. She pat Finn on the back. “But seriously, bro, it’s good to have you back.”

“I’ve only been gone for one rehearsal,” he said, laughing. “It’s not that bad.”

Jess rolled her eyes, as Poe pouted dramatically and declared, “We missed you!”

“We did,” said Ms. Organa.

Poe finally released Finn, who was busy staring at Organa with a star-struck face.

She reached out and pat Finn on the shoulder. “I’m glad that you’re feeling better to join us again. Just try to take it easy, alright?”

Finn beamed. “Alright, Ms. Organa.”

 

“…and you would not believe how much I was forced to eat,” said Finn, to a chorus of amused theater kids.

“Is your dad like my mom?” said Jess, who was leaning against a wall. “She always force feeds me soup if I just cough.”

“Oh, he’s worse.” Finn took a sip of water. “It’s not just soup, it’s rice. Just plate after plate of Jollof rice, all for a—”

“Break’s over.”

Everyone groaned as they filed back in, evidently hoping to hear more about Finn’s dad’s overly fatherly tendencies.

“Alright. Poe, Finn, let’s go over that duet,” said Ms. Organa as soon as everyone was settled in. “It’s fairly short, so I have no worries that you both will be able to learn it quickly.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Poe, sitting up straight. Finn, for his part, fiddled with the music in front of him.

“You boys ready?”

“Yeah,” they both said in unison.

Poe looked at Finn reassuringly. “Well, here goes nothing, pal.”

Ms. Organa played the first few chords at her piano. The song began.

And Finn began to sing.

Were the lyrics sappy? Of course, this _was_ a love song. But it wasn’t completely embarrassing, not when Poe was harmonizing along with him, and getting so into it. If Poe’s hand gestures were a problem when he normally talked, they were even more dramatic while he was singing, joined by his gentle swaying and his eyes gently closed.

He looked absolutely beautiful.

For Finn, it was ridiculously easy to get in character. It honestly wasn’t hard to pretend he was in love with the amazing O’Malley when he really _was_ hopelessly crushing on his gorgeous actor.

They finished singing the last line together, as Organa played the last few notes. Poe was gently holding both of Finn’s hands, and looking at him.

Oh.

Right.

_The kiss._

Poe leaned in. “So are we…”

Finn’s mouth felt dry. Poe’s face was only centimeters away from his; he could easily close the distance if he wanted to.

“I…” Finn’s heart was frantically beating. “…I’m sorry, but I, um, don’t know if I’m ready yet.”

“That’s fine.”

“But seriously,” said Finn hastily, “I’m so sorry that—”

“Buddy,” said Poe, “It’s fine.” He moved back. “Is a hug fine?”

“Yes,” he said, a little desperately. Poe leaned in and hugged him.

“Whenever you’re ready, Finn,” he whispered, gently rubbing circles on his back. Finn just held him closer.

“I hate to interrupt,” said Ms. Organa, looking over at them, “but do we want to run through that one more time? Poe, I noticed you keep stumbling over the notes in measure 34…”

Finn nodded, a little relieved at the interruption. “Sure.”

 

“What am I doing, Rey.”

“What _are_ you doing, Finn?” she replied, peering at him from over her pre-calculus homework later that day. “Because it doesn’t exactly look like you’re memorizing _By Your Side_ like Organa wanted.”

“God, no,” he said, blankly staring at his contact list. “I’m gonna do something completely stupid.”

“Sweetheart, you’re going to have to be more specific.”

Any other time, he would just roll his eyes and tell her to shut the hell up, but not when he felt like he was going to throw up at any moment. “I’m, um.” He gulped. “I’m calling Poe.”

“Congrats!” Rey grinned. “So, do you know what you’re going to tell him?”

“…yeah.”

“You don’t sound so confident.”

“Just go back to your homework,” he said, waving his hand in her direction. She scoffed, but didn’t say anything afterwards.

Finn got up from his bed, legs shaking like mad. Somehow, he forced himself to walk out their shared room to the hallway, and actually call Poe.

Who answered after only _one ring_. “Hello?”

Finn silently coughed, forcing his voice to work. “Hey, Poe.”

“Hey, buddy.” Finn swore he could practically _hear_ Poe’s goofy smile from here. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, fine,” he said, smiling softly to himself. “I mean, still a bit nervous from today’s rehearsal, I guess.”

“I bet,” said Poe. “It must be weird for you to just kiss someone like that, I bet.”

“Tell me about it.” Jesus, even a phone call with this guy was enough to make Finn smile widely like a dork. “I, uh, guess I was just wondering, if it would be ok if we practiced it sometime?”

As soon as those words left his mouth, Finn felt a wave of nausea crash over him. “I-I mean, only if it’s comfortable with you, of course!”

Silence.

And then Poe fucking _chuckled_. “I’m, uh, actually free right now, if you wanna go for it.”

“ _Seriously?_ ” said Finn, with maybe a little too much enthusiasm.

“Absolutely.”

Finn could hardly believe his luck. “Sweet. So, should I just tell you my address? I’m sure Rey will be happy to see you.”

“I don’t think I’m going anywhere with this ankle, buddy.”

 _Right._ “Oh.”

“Would my place work?”

“No, yeah, that’s fine.” Finn gripped the receiver a bit tighter. “Can you text me your address, and I’ll be there in half an hour?”

“Yeah, sure.” Finn heard barking at the other end—no doubt it was Bebe. “So, see ya in a bit?”

“See ya in a bit,” he said, smiling and hanging up. “Rey, oh my God, you would _not_ believe what just happened.”

 

Finn still couldn’t believe what just happened, even as he showed up fifteen minutes later at Poe’s house (which was a surprisingly short walk from his own). By all means, it was a pleasant house, with a few wind chimes hanging from the awning, and a plain white Mezuzah (he was rather proud of himself for even _knowing_ that word) nailed to the doorframe.

_Alright._

Finn took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell.

Bebe immediately started barking.

He heard Poe before he saw him, by his loud and surprisingly quick footsteps, despite the bulky cast he had on his right ankle.

“Shit, sorry,” said Poe as he answered the door, breathing heavily. “Should have said not to ring the doorbell—it gets Bebe all excited.”

“It’s fine, it was kinda my fault,” he said. Bebe continued to bark from her position next to Poe’s legs.

Finn bent down. “Hey, Bebe.” She ran over, and immediately began licking his hand. “No, wait—” He lifted his hand. “Bebe—” She kept licking. “—I’m trying to— _pet_ —you!”

Poe laughed. “Yeah, she does that.” He whistled, and she stopped, lifting her head. “Where’s your toy, Bebe?”

She immediately ran down the hall.

Finn smiled. “God, what a cute dog.”

“Thanks.” Poe leaned against the wall. “Well, welcome to my humble abode.”

“It’s nice,” said Finn, looking around. There was a coatrack, and two pairs of shoes neatly stacked next to the door. The wall across had a calendar with a picture of a corgi in sunglasses on it. “Nice calendar, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Poe grinned. “I picked it out myself.”

“Figured.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” said Poe, smirking.

Finn rolled his eyes. “Figure that out for yourself, genius.”

Poe swatted his shoulder. “You come into _my_ house, disrespect _my—_ ”

Finn swatted him back. “Whatever. Show me the rest of your house?”

“What am I, a real estate agent?” said Poe, grinning. “Nah, it’s fine, come on.”

He started hobbling out the entrance. Finn followed him as they walked into a nicely furnished living room.

Poe waved his arms as if they were on a tour. “And to your left is the kitchen, where the actual snacks are sorely lacking, but the baby carrots are bountiful.” He sighed. “My dad’s a bit of a health nut, sadly. At least there’s homemade tamales.”

“Nice.” Finn leaned against the wall. “My parents are kind of like that, too. All the junk food in our house is Rey’s responsibility.”

“What an angel,” said Poe. “Wait, does she live with you, or what?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I ask why?” Immediately, he winced. “I mean, unless that’s too personal—”

Finn shrugged. “It’s fine. She just doesn’t really get along with her biological family, so she’s crashing with us for now.”

“Ok.”

They both stared at each other for a while.

In an attempt to break the awkward silence, Finn looked over at a photo of three people hanging on the wall. “That your family?”

Poe hobbled over. “Yep.”

Finn smiled. “Wow, you were _really_ cute as a baby.” Poe lightly punched his shoulder. “Hey!”

“You’re embarrassing me here, man,” said Poe, grinning. He looked back at the photo. “Yeah, this was back when we still lived in Guatemala.”

“You’re Guatemalan?” said Finn, and then slapped his forehead. “That was a dumb question. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, buddy.” Poe pat his back. “Yeah, we’re Guatemalan. Mom was Jewish, so my dad converted to get closer to her.” He rolled his eyes. “He really didn’t have to do that. Anyways, I was born in Villa Nueva, and we moved to the states when I was about two years old.”

“Nice.”

“Mom never liked it here, to be honest—she always complained that it was too cold.”

“Sounds like my dad, he’s from Florida. Wait—um, what’s with the past tense?”

Poe smiled sadly. “She had cancer when I was eight.”

“Oh.” Finn frowned. “I’m sorry.”

“S’okay,” said Poe, shrugging. “It’s been ten years, I’m mostly over it.”

More silence.

“Hey, um.” Poe looked over to the hallway. “Wanna go to my room?”

Finn nodded. “Sure.”

When they got there, Bebe was curled up on Poe’s pillow, with a little orange and white ball in her mouth.

Finn pat her head. “Hey, Bebe.” She let out a little “boof”.

Poe sat down on the bed, before patting the space of comforter next to him.

“Alright.” Finn sat down, and looked around the room. “Nice place you got here, by the way.”

Poe’s walls were completely covered in posters. Most of them were for various plays and musicals, including a recently-hung playbill for Hamilton ( _lucky bastard,_ he thought). A few had “Ileenium High” or “Hosnian Middle School” printed on them—probably productions that Poe was in. Here and there, there were some that were non-theater-related, including a motorcycle, another Corgi calendar, and a photo of Poe’s squad making faces in full costume at a diner.

“I’m just going to assume that you like theater,” said Finn, continuing to pet the dog.

Poe scoffed. “Where did you get that idea from?” He looked up at the ceiling. “But yeah, I’m a huge theater junkie.”

“That’s cool.” Finn looked back at the squad picture. “Are you guys at a Denny’s?”

“It’s a tradition, we always go there after opening night.” Poe glanced at Finn, grinning. “You and Rey can come with us this year.”

“This year…” Finn nervously cleared his throat. “Speaking of which.”

“Oh.” Poe sat up. “Right, that.”

Finn bit the inside of his cheek. “Should we?”

Poe nodded. “Sure.” He cracked his knuckles. “So, um, where do you want to start?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, do you want to lead into it with the last few measures of our duet, or should we just…” Here he made an exaggerated kissing motion. “…go for it?”

Finn felt his face heat up. “Nonono, let’s, um, lead in.”

“Good idea.” Poe scooted closer to Finn. “Ok, last two words?”

“Last two words,” Finn numbly agreed, trying his hardest not to stare at Poe’s lips. Poe, for his part, bit his lips and gently grabbed Finn’s (uncomfortably sweaty) hands.

“One, two, three,” Poe whispered. Finn took a deep breath.

“ _…with you._ ”

Poe’s tenor sweetly floated above Finn’s lower baritone, even while they were singing barely above a whisper. From up close, his lashes appeared even darker than usual.

Finn’s heart was racing as they both let the last note drop.

Poe, like earlier, was slowly inching towards Finn’s face, lips gently parted and eyes lidded. Finn took a deep breath.

He leaned in.

Poe’s hands squeezed Finn’s as he gently brushed his lips against the other boy’s, noses bumping into each other. With a murmured apology, Finn properly pressed their lips together, his heart nearly stopping when he felt how _soft_ Poe’s mouth was.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, before pulling away. Finn exhaled, and opened his eyes first.

And immediately covered his face with his hands.

“You ok there, buddy?” whispered Poe. Finn peered from over his fingertips to see Poe looking at him with a slightly concerned expression, with one hand over his mouth and a deep blush covering his cheeks.

Finn nodded, secretly relieved that no matter how much he felt like he was going to die, at least Poe was just as nervous as he was. “Yeah.”

“I’ll, um.” Poe stood up. “I’ll just…get us some water.”

“Okay.” Finn kept covering his face.

“That fine?”

“Fine.”

He tried not to look at Poe’s ass as he walked out.

 

When Finn got home, Rey was teaching Jess how to fence in the living room.

“Now, if you move to strike me, and I’m about to parry, you can actually _disengage_ by moving your saber under—” Finn walked in. “—oh, hi, Finn!”

“Hi,” he mumbled, flopping down on the couch. Rey was smiling brightly, with a pleasant flush across her face and shoulders. Finn noticed they weren’t fencing with proper sabers, but rather, with pool cues.

“I should probably go,” said Jess, setting her cue down. “It’s almost dinner, anyways—my mom will probably kill me if I’m late again.”

“Ugh, _fine._ ” Rey hugged her. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course!” said Jess brightly, kissing her on the cheek. Rey beamed as Jess turned to leave.

As soon as the door closed, Rey squealed. “Oh my _God,_ Finn, I am _so_ gay!”

“Uh-huh,” he said distractedly, staring at the ceiling. Rey frowned.

“Are you alright?” she asked, sitting down next to him. He shrugged. “Does this have to do with Poe?”

“Kind of.” He sighed. “At least you have the guts to crush on your crush.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love my nervous gay children


	3. Everyone takes everything way too seriously in this damn school for fuck's sake

“Great rehearsal, everyone.”

Finn sighed, wiped the sweat off his brow, and high-fived Poe (finally back on both his feet). It had been about three weeks since The Kiss (always capitalized in Finn’s mind), and the play was going smoothly. Today had been a choreography-heavy day (hence the exhaustion), and honestly, Finn just wanted to head home and sleep for the rest of the day.

“Finn, oh my God, come here!”

It was just a shame that Rey wasn’t about to let him do that.

Finn groaned, and headed over with Poe to the open theater doors, where Rey was peeking in. “They’re working on the set right _now_ , you just _have_ to check this out!”

The trio walked in.

Poe whistled. “Damn.”

The stage looked almost nothing like its original self. Over the course of the past few weeks, a low wooden deck had been built over the upper half of the stage, fitted with a set of stairs, and covered in generic theater box props (painted to resemble wooden crates) and round barrels. Above the deck was a sort of platform, supported by the fake masts and accessible by a rope ladder (as well as a provisional Werner). The backdrop was painted with palm trees and the occasional bird silhouette; otherwise, it remained white, probably for the lighting crew to later project a sky onto.

On the apron, two men were busy working on what looked like the base for a prop cannon. The older of the two (or, at least, Finn _assumed_ he was older) beckoned to the other, a tall man with a bushy beard, and told him something (Finn couldn’t quite make out what it was from his location). The hairy man grunted something in a thick Russian accent, and handed his coworker some parts from the box next to them. The old one thanked him, and immediately placed it in the pocket of his jacket.

“What was even the point?” muttered Poe, shaking his head.

Finn shrugged. “Dunno.” He looked back at the two men in action. “Still, this is impressive.”

“Tell me about it,” said Poe, smiling in awe.

Finn turned to Rey, who was currently completely absorbed watching the set being put together. “Well, this is pretty neat, but I think we should go.”

She pouted. “Come _on._ ”

“I promise that we'll get another shot at seeing these guys work.”

“Yeah. Besides, wait till you see the cast poster,” called out Poe from behind them.

That got Rey to move away from the theater doors.

The two headed to the commons, where, indeed, a rather glitter-drenched poster was hanging next to one of the trophy cases, with every main actor’s face and role.

Rey squinted. “Looks like someone's way too fond of glitter glue.”

“Tabby’s work, I'm guessing,” said Poe. “She’s always been liberal with the art supplies.”

Finn just blankly stared at his own face (“FINN TYSON – SALTLEGS”). “Jesus, I can't believe I actually look like that.”

“You know what I think, buddy?” said Poe, grinning mischievously. “I think you look perfectly fine.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Handsome, even.”

Finn, even while blushing ( _holy shit, did he just say that?_ ) just rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

“Boys, I hate to interrupt, but—” Rey pointed at the clock. “Shouldn’t we be heading home?”

“ _Please,_ ” said Finn, adjusting the straps of his backpack.

Poe pat his back. “Alright, alright, we’re leaving.” The three turned to walk out.

Finn tried to ignore Poe’s hand still on his back.

 

“That traitor did _what?_ ”

Phasma winced as Kylo slammed the locker shut, somehow even louder than usual. “I already told you, the poster’s up in the commons, and Tyson is on it.  He apparently has a lead role—”

“ _God—argh!_ ” Kylo screamed, and punched the locker again. Phasma, wisely, said nothing as he continued to slam his fist into the metal door. “ _That—asshole—will—PAY—damn it!_ ”

“If you could _calm down_ for a moment—” Phasma dropped her voice. “You won’t get Tyson back by _screaming_ , Ren.”

“Then what the hell should we do, Phasma?” he hissed, finally pausing his tantrum.

“Well, don’t tell the coach, but—” She smirked. “I have an idea. All we need is the rest of the team…”

Kylo’s eyes widened. “Tell me more.”

 

 

TGIF

Finn rolled his eyes as he responded to Poe’s text that morning over breakfast.

Poe, no one says that anymore

whatever  
meet us @the theater for lunch?

Wait, _what_?

He couldn’t possibly be…

Us?

me & the squad  
y’know, jess, snap, kare, iolo

Got it

He thought a little bit before sending his next text.

Can Rey come?

ofc buddy

so, see ya there?

see ya ;)

Finn blankly stared at Poe’s last text.

Rey elbowed him. “So, what’s the situation with Hot Damneron?”

Finn groaned. “ _Never_ call him that again.”

“My point stands.”

He took another bite of toast. “He wants to meet us for lunch today.”

“Huh. Is that why you look worried?”

“No, he…” He sighed. “He texted me a wink emoji.”

Rey waggled her eyebrows. “Oh, looks like things are getting _serious._ ”

“Shut up.” He rested his head on his hand. “Rey, I don’t even know what we are at this point.”

“You mean you haven’t even asked him out yet?”

“Shut up and finish your toast.”

 

It was lunch.

“Oh, god,” Finn whispered, squeezing Rey’s hand.

“You’ll be fine,” she whispered back, as they walked towards the theater. “My girlfriend’s gonna be there, remember?”

“Your girlf—oh, Jess.” He rolled his eyes. “Lucky.”

She grinned.

“Speaking of which—” He looked around the hallway. “Where _are_ they?”

Rey gestured to the theater. “The doors are open, maybe they’ve already gone inside?”

“Maybe.” He looked at her. “Should we check?”

Finn and Rey walked in.

As soon as Rey caught sight of the stage, she gasped and squeezed Finn’s hand in shock. “Oh, no.”

Overnight, the glorious set that had taken the crew weeks to finish had been devastated. The set was littered with eggshells and dried yolks, streams of damp toilet paper hung from the ladders, and shards of color filters from the overhead lights were scattered across the stage. All the barrels and boxes were smashed in, leaving the platform covered in haphazard wooden fragments, and the cannon base had been reduced to splinters. Even more horrifying was the graffiti; it was thickly scrawled onto every possible surface, including the backdrop—the painstakingly hand-painted backdrop.

Poe and his squad were sitting on the apron next to the fallen cannon. Jess had her arm wrapped around a ponytailed girl who was loudly sobbing.

Finn let go of Rey’s hand and hesitantly walked over to the stage, careful to avoid any shrapnel. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s Korrie,” explained Poe softly, as Jess tried to comfort the poor girl. “She designed that mural all by herself.”

“Oh.” Finn felt a lump rise in his throat as Korrie cried even harder. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s my fault,” she sobbed, gripping her knees tighter, as Jess murmured, “You didn’t know this was going to happen, Korrie, it’s not your fault.” Finn felt a sudden rush of anger, to whoever had ran in here overnight and ruined so much hard work.

“Which bastards did this?” he asked Poe, scowling. Poe, in return, furrowed his brows and turned back to the ruined backdrop.

“Someone from our school, probably,” he said, pointing to a large, sprawling message across the curtain in bright red: LONG LIVE THE KNIGHTS / FUK U THEATER NERDS, and a red sword.

Finn felt a wave of panic wash over him. “Football,” he whispered.

“I beg your pardon?”

“It’s because of me,” he said, tensing up. “I left, so they—they’re trying to sabotage this production.”

Poe shook his head. “I don’t think so. They wouldn’t go that far—right?”

“I should have never auditioned,” he continued, backing away and ignoring Poe’s remarks. “I’ve only made this harder—”

“Buddy,” said Poe softly, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t say that about yourself.”

“I’m not—” Finn tried to laugh. “Poe, look, I’m just saying that I’ve been a hindrance to—” He stopped, with his next words stuck in his throat. “—this…”

Poe was looking at him sadly.

Then, he leaned in and hugged him. “You’re not, Finn.”

Finn hugged him back, not trusting himself to speak without crying.

“People are assholes,” Poe said, “and what those assholes did is not your fault. You’re fine, okay?”

“Okay,” whispered Finn.

They separated, Poe still holding on to Finn’s shoulders.

Poe nervously cleared his throat. “Would it, um, be alright if you came over after school?” He shrugged. “I mean, there’s no rehearsal today, so—”

“Yeah,” said Finn, perhaps a bit too quickly. “Yeah, sure.”

They looked around the ruined set.

“How about we head out and actually eat?” asked Rey, folding her arms. “I’m starving.”

“Good idea,” said Poe, finally letting go of Finn (sadly). “Let’s just hope that Mr. Solo doesn’t freak out when he sees this.”

 

For the second time that day, Finn was nervously waiting outside the theater doors for Poe.

Poe, being the _perfect human being_ that he was, wanted to check in with Ms. Organa after the whole fiasco with the set. So far, he was in there for five minutes, leaving Finn awkwardly leaning against the wall and silently humming _By Your Side_ (by now, _mostly_ memorized).

“ _Tolerable, even at your worst_ —oh, there you are.”

Poe walked out of the theater, nervously running his hand through his hair. “Mr. Solo’s left the production.”

“ _What?_ ” Finn frowned. “No, that can't—why?”

Poe sighed, looking down. “It's complicated. But basically, I think it was because I brought up the football team as the key suspects, and his son is the quarterback, so he got kind of frustrated—”

“Hold up.” Finn held up a hand. “You mean to say that Mr. Solo is Kylo Ren’s _dad_?”

“Long story,” said Poe. “Hey, how about I tell you about it once we’re at my place?”

“Do I have a choice?” said Finn, rolling his eyes and following Poe out the door.

_Well, things just got a whole lot weirder._

 

“Guess it's time to explain what’s going on,” said Poe over _tamales dulces_ later that day.

“Please,” said Finn, unwrapping his tamale.

“Alright.” Poe cleared his throat.

“So, long story short, Organa and Solo were totally married back in the day—”

Finn nearly choked. “Solo was married to _Organa?_ ”

Poe shrugged. “Go figure. Anyways, they had a son named Ben, and he used to do a lot of acting, kind of like his mom.” He took another bite, and continued to talk. “But he had a bit of a falling-out a few years ago.”

“How do you know all this?” asked Finn.

“I was _there_ , buddy,” said Poe, still talking with his mouth full. “Basically, he was starring in a play, and he deliberately messed it up on opening night. Later said a bunch of nasty shit about his uncle, who was the director, and punched some of the other actors.” He winced. “That sucked. So, he demanded that everyone call him Kylo Ren and quit theater for football, and his parents didn’t really take that well…I mean, there was already kinda some stress between them, so they split up after all that happened. And…that’s basically it.”

Finn was stunned. “Jesus Christ.”

“Tell me about it,” said Poe, rolling his eyes.

Finn frowned, looking at his plate. “And now he’s got to go off and ruin someone else’s play for no reason.”

“Who says it’s ruined?”

Finn squinted at him. “The _entire set_ —”

“—can be cleaned up,” said Poe excitedly, leaning forward, “and rebuilding the barrels won’t take a long time with enough people!”

Finn frowned. “But the lights—”

“Whatever.” Poe held up his hands. “Frames can be bought for a dime a dozen, and gels aren’t that expensive either.” He looked up. “I guess the worst part would be the cyc, ‘cause I don’t think Korrie wants to redo it…”

Finn bit his lips. “Rey’s an artist, she could help.”

“ _Really?_ ”

“And she’s in shop, too. Come to think of it—”

Poe’s eyes lit up. “If you’re about to say what I think you’re gonna say—”

Finn nodded, grinning wildly. “We could totally fix this mess. You, me, Rey, the squad, this weekend—”

“Let’s _do this_.”

 

The custodian was mildly surprised when seven teenagers walked in for damage control on Saturday morning.

“He didn’t think anyone would come,” explained Rey as she and Poe returned from the shop armed with wood and tools.

“How could you tell?” asked Finn, sweeping eggshells off the stage.

She rolled her eyes, and picked up a few slabs of wood. “He _told_ me.”

Finn tilted his head. “You speak Russian?”                                          

“No, but he speaks English,” she whispered, adjusting the angle of two box pieces. “ _And_ he understands it fluently, might I add.”

Finn looked away sheepishly, and continued to sweep the stage. “My bad.”

“It’s alright,” she said, picking up a hammer. “Jess, be a dear and hand me the nails?”

By the next hour, not only was the set completely cleared of debris, but Finn had also managed to scrub off most of the dried egg and graffiti from the floor. At noon, the assistant stage manager showed up with Starbucks and more people willing to help. The cyc, unfortunately, had to be scrubbed completely clean, but Rey and Tabby promised they would be able to repaint it by the next week. More importantly, the group had managed to put together and paint four boxes, as well as the cannon base that Mr. Solo and the hairy custodian had been working on earlier.

“Shouldn’t we have two of these?” asked Finn once the base was assembled, wiping his brow.

“Well, Mr. Bacca said we’d have to create the parts for it this evening, since he lost the stencils,” said Rey, then paused to take a long drink of water. “But I think we’d be able to get it done.”

“Let’s call it a day,” said Poe, stretching his arms. “We can continue everything tomorrow.”

Ms. Organa stopped by Sunday morning with a few shopping bags.

“I have the gels and frames—” She stopped, looking at the group working. “—oh.”

“Hey,” said Poe, wiping his brow after he hammered another nail into the second base. “We were just, uh, working on…”

He tried to casually give her a thumbs up.

“Whose idea was this?” she whispered, looking around the clean stage.

Poe and Rey simultaneously pointed to Finn, who was sitting next to the paint cans.

Ms. Organa moved towards him. “Is this true?”

He sheepishly nodded.

For the first time that Finn could remember, she was speechless.

Then, she smiled warmly. “Thank you, Finn.”

He beamed.

“And all of you—” she turned back to the rest of the team. “Thank you so much for taking your time to come here and help.”

“Will we get community service hours for this?” asked Jess, grinning.

Ms. Organa chucked. “Maybe.” She turned to one of the girls standing next to the wooden steps. “Pam, can you help me set up the lights?”

“You know,” whispered Poe once the two walked away, “we’re lucky that those assholes didn’t damage the actual lights.”

“Really lucky,” said Finn, passing him another box of nails. “But you know what?”

Poe grunted as he worked.

“We’re even luckier that we have all these people willing to help us.”

“And they’re lucky to have a great star like you to motivate them,” added Poe, beckoning to the paint. “Don’t stress about it, Finn. You’re a great guy.”

Finn smiled back at him.

Poe patted his shoulder. “Now, let’s get to work.”

 

“Bad news,” said Phasma Monday morning.

Kylo scowled. “You mean, besides the coach threatening to suspend whoever egged the stage?”

“Worse.” She folded her arms. “The stage is being fixed.”

“ _What?_ ” Kylo balled his fists. “You’re _kidding_ me.”

“I’m promising you, I’m not.”

Kylo glared at the lockers, as if he were about to punch them, but then thought better of it as one of that teachers passed by them. “Is there _nothing_ that will get Tyson back on the team?” he hissed instead.

“Probably not,” said Phasma. “The show opens in a few _weeks_ , Ren, he's almost certainly going to be completely committed to—”

“That's…” He lifted his head. “That’s it.”

“Excuse me?”

Kylo grinned. “It's going to be tech week soon.”

“So?” Phasma lowered her brows. “I'm not sure I understand you.”

“Whatever. The point is, we’ll be able to… _meet up_ with him after the final rehearsal.”

“And you think that will be enough to get him back?”

“It better be,” he snarled, laying his palm flat on the locker. “Or else there will be _hell_ to pay.”

 

After the set was restored to a decent-enough state, the next few rehearsals were rather uneventful. Even tech week, with its rush to make sure that the stage lights were still working, not to mention an overexcited orchestra, went by in a straightforward fashion, with nothing wild happening.

Until, of course, the dress rehearsal.

“Hold still for just a little longer, please?” Finn screwed his eyes shut as Tabby brushed the last bit of powder onto his face. “Alright, you’re good!”

Finn looked at the mirror, trying not to crack up at how absurd his face looked. “Oh my God.” He rotated his head. “This is so freaky. I don’t even _look_ real.”

“You’ll get used to it,” said Tabby, smiling and rotating his chair. “Now hurry up, the crew and I still have twenty more faces to put on tonight!”

Grinning, he got up, and head back to his corner of the dressing room to finish getting into his costume.

He was just finishing lacing up his other boot when he heard someone laugh.

“Well, look at you!”

“Poe!” he said, turning to face the other boy. “Oh my God, you should look at _yourself!_ ”

Poe smirked. “I know.” He adjusted his plumed hat. “Aren’t I the hottest pirate you’ve ever seen, or what?”

“Maybe if you looked less like a freaking wax statue,” said Finn, chuckling. “I mean, I know this is gonna look normal once we’re on stage, but Jesus, man, you’re kind of freaking me out here.”

Poe pouted.

“My God.” Finn rolled his eyes. “Nah, it’s fine, you look…” He took a step forward. “You look great, Poe.”

He smiled. “You too, buddy.”

Neither of them stepped away. Finn had the sudden thought to just lean forward and…

Poe put his hand on Finn’s shoulder, biting his lip. Well, that settled it.

Finn closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and—

_“Places, everybody!_ ”

Finn silently groaned as Kay’s voice crackled over the radio.

“Thank you—places!” everyone called out, Finn included as he backed away from Poe’s face.

As the cast filed out into the hallways, Poe briefly tapped Finn’s shoulder and winked.

“Later, buddy,” he whispered, and headed to the other wing.

Finn forced himself to steady his breathing as the music began.

 

Frankly, Finn was impressed with how well the rehearsal went.

“…I don’t know, I thought the shoes would be too tight or something,” he told Rey as they walked out the theater later that day.

“I know, right?” she said. “I totally thought I was going to slip and break my neck while doing that jump.”

“I saw you from backstage, you looked fantastic.”

She smiled. “Really?”

“Yeah, you were _terrifying_ as Greg.” He rolled his eyes. “And that’s not a sentence you get to say every day.”

She punched his shoulder. “Oh, shut up.”

Poe caught up to the two. “Who needs to shut up now?”

“No one,” said Finn as Rey smirked and pointed to Finn. “Come _on._ ”

“Well, you two boys have your fun,” she said, quickly hugging Finn from the side. “I promised Jess I’d meet up with her after rehearsal.”

“Ditching us for your girlfriend, I see how it is,” said Finn. “Well, see you later today.”

“Bye!” she said, waving as she ran off in front of them.

Poe smiled. “Boy, that kid’s got a lot of energy.”

“Tell me about it,” said Finn, grinning as she continued to run. “Did you see her on stage today?”

Poe held up his hands. “ _Yes._ ”

“The way she sang _Still I Rise_ gave me chills.”

“The crocodile scene, though?”

“ _Right?_ ”

“And the way Snap screamed?” Poe shook his head, grinning. “I could’ve sworn Bacca ran in the theater just to see who died.”

“I saw that!” Finn laughed, then rubbed his arms, shivering and wishing he had worn something warmer than his shirt.

“You alright?” asked Poe. “Here—”

He slipped off his jacket and slipped it onto Finn’s shoulders. “Take it, it’s freezing.”

“Wait—” Finn started to protest, but was interrupted by Poe adjusting the jacket.

“Hey.” He smiled. “It suits you.”

Finn blushed. “So, about earlier today,” he whispered.

“Right.” Poe ducked his head, then shyly looked back at Finn. “Um, wanna give it another go?”

_Stay calm, stay calm._

Every single Michael Bublé song was playing at once in Finn’s head as he grinned. “Sure.”

Poe smiled. “We’re doing this.”

“Yeah?” Finn leaned in.

“Yeah,” Poe whispered, and finally closed the distance between them.

Sure, they had kissed a few times before, but no staged moment could top _this_. Poe shifted his arms from Finn’s ( _Poe’s_ ) jacket to wrap around Finn’s waist, and Finn found the courage to run his hands through Poe’s hair, causing him to pleasantly hum against his mouth.

Poe pulled him in closer, and the whole world seemed to slow down around them. There was nothing but the breeze and the two of them, kissing slowly and sweetly.

They finally separated, grinning at each other.

“I’ve been wanting to do that forever,” whispered Poe, leaning their foreheads together.

“You’re kidding.” Finn looked up at the other boy, blushing. “Same.”

“We’re a bunch of dorks, then.” Poe smiled warmly, kissing his cheek. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Finn took his hand, feeling giddy. “Your place fine?”

“Of course, buddy.”

Feeling like he was floating, the two headed out.

 

“ _Finnegan Tyson!_ ”

Startled, Finn turned his head to see Phasma snarling at him.

“Oh God,” he whispered, tensing up.

Phasma stomped her way to where the two were standing. “What, exactly, were you _thinking_ when you stopped attending practice for two months?” she shouted, jabbing her finger at him.

Finn suddenly found it hard to breathe. “I-I—”

“ _Enough_ ,” she said, glaring at him. “The most important game of the season is in two weeks, Tyson. I _cannot_ have you miss another one.”

“I—”

“This is _unacceptable_ ,” she continued, ignoring his panic. “The team cannot afford to lose a valuable player.”

Finn squeezed Poe’s hand. “I—listen, I can’t—”

Thankfully, Poe got his cue. “Performances run this weekend and the next, Phasma. There’s no way he can do everything at once.”

“Then he has to drop the production!” she shouted, tilting her head up in defiance. “Tyson, the Knights need you. The coach needs you.” She looked behind her. “Kylo needs you.”

“Kylo…” Finn’s stomach dropped. “Oh, _shit_.”

Kylo was standing behind Phasma, balling his fists and shooting a death glare right at Finn.

Finn took a step back. “Listen, Poe, we’ve gotta go—”

Kylo ran up to him, pushed Poe aside, and grabbed Finn’s jacket, pulling him close.

“Wait—” Finn tried to jerk away. “—Kylo, listen, I can explain—”

Kylo pulled him close. “You _Traitor!_ ” he screamed.

And punched Finn right between the eyes.

Immediately, pain shot across his face, and his knees buckled. He bent over, dimly noticing Phasma yelling something. _Come on, focus._

He shakily stood up, as Kylo aimed for his face again. Thankfully, he managed to block and deflect it.

Kylo screamed, throwing more punches at him. Finn kept stepping back, away, blocking, but missed one aimed for his gut. Finn doubled over, hearing another _thunk_ as Kylo’s fist connected with his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

_Breathe, damn it._

He heard two people talking. Someone screaming. Someone yelling.

Someone shoved him in the chest. Wait—

He looked up to see Rey standing between the two of them, clenching her teeth as she kneed Kylo in the groin—hard. “ _You monster, don’t you lay another finger on him—_ ”

“Whoa, _excuse me._ ”

Ms. Organa marched up to the scene, pulling Rey back. “You guys. Knock it off, _right now._ ”

Rey was still breathing heavily, glaring at Kylo with a menacing expression. Kylo, for his part, was bent over, groaning.

Ms. Organa looked back and forth from person to person. “I want to know what happened _right now._ ” She looked at Rey. “Explain yourself.”

Rey kept scowling. “That b—” She took a deep breath. “Sorry. Ky— _Ben_ was attacking Finn, and I stepped in to stop it.” She huffed. “And kicked him _once._ ”

Ms. Organa didn’t look entirely convinced. “Finn, is this true?”

“Yeah,” he whispered, cradling his head with his hand. Next to him, Poe nodded.

She turned to Phasma, who had her hand on Kylo’s back. “Gwendoline?”

Phasma raised her upper lip upon hearing her first name. “Yes. I _did_ try to let Ren know that he shouldn’t fight Tyson, but he didn’t listen.”

Organa sighed, closing her eyes. “Alright. Gwendoline, Poe, you go home. You three—” She turned to the aftermath of the fight. “You come with me to the principal’s office.”

Phasma stepped away. Rey put her arm around Finn as they walked. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

 

“You’re pretty lucky, don’t you think?” said Poe later that day.

After the principal chewed them out for what seemed like forever, she finally let them go with their punishments—not as harsh as he had feared. Rey went home with Jess, while Finn decided to go with Poe back to his place to recuperate.

“I guess,” said Finn, leaning his head against Poe’s shoulder. “Could’ve been worse—it’s just detention for half an hour.” He yawned. “I’ll still have time to get ready for the play.”

“Not just that.” Poe curled his hand around Finn’s waist. “Aren’t you still technically in recovery from your _last_ concussion?”

“It’s no big deal.” Finn grinned. “I’m a football player, we’re tough by design.”

“Hmm.” Poe pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Still, take care of yourself, ok?”

“Alright, alright,” said Finn. “Hey.”

He looked up at Poe. “Tomorrow morning.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m quitting the team tomorrow morning.”

“Are you sure?”

Finn nodded, scooting in closer. “I mean, it’s about time I leave.”

Poe smiled. “You’re so brave.”

“No, I’m freaking out.”

“Well, you don’t have to go by yourself,” said Poe.

“What?”

He kissed Finn’s forehead again. “If you want, I can come with you to talk to the coach.”

Finn looked at Poe. “You sure?”

“Course I am, buddy. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do on a Friday morning—”

“ _Poe._ ”

“Finn?”

Finn pressed his lips to Poe’s cheek. “Thank you.”

Poe looked at him fondly, before kissing his nose. “Anything for you, buddy.”

Finn squinted his eyes. “Ok, you can’t call me that anymore.”

“Why not?” He kept planting kisses all over his face. “Buddy. Pal. Dude.”

“ _Poe—_ ” Finn laughed. “Poe, God, I—” He stopped,

“I love you.”

Poe grinned, and bit his lip. “Uh, same here.”

“You dork.”

“Takes one to know one,” said Poe, and was immediately silenced by Finn kissing him. “ _Hmm._ ”

They stayed like that, until Finn heard the garage door opening. He tensed up. “Will your dad—”

Poe kissed him again. “Nah, dad’s pretty chill. He’ll probably want you to stay for dinner or something.”

_I’m not ready for this._ “Um, I think my parents might want me home for that.”

“Hey, no pressure.”

 Finn heard footsteps, and then a knock on the door. He stood up, until Poe put an arm on his chest.

“It’s fine,” he whispered, and then: “Hey, dad.”

The door opened.

Mr. Dameron walked in. Finn rapidly untangled himself from Poe out of habit, who seemed otherwise undisturbed. “Hello, Poe and—who’s this?”

Finn nervously stuck his hand out. “H-hello, um, I’m Finn, Poe’s—” He quickly glanced at Poe, who nodded.

“Boyfriend,” said Poe, with his hand on his shoulder. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“Nice to meet you, Finn,” said Mr. Dameron, smiling and shaking Finn’s hand.

Finn (still a little overwhelmed from the whole “boyfriend” thing—Jesus _Christ,_ Poe) shook it back, awkwardly smiling. “Yeah, nice to meet you too, Mr. Dameron.”

“Call me Kes.” He turned to his son. “I wasn’t expecting guests for tonight.”

Finn squirmed.

Mr. Dame— _Kes_ —shrugged. “Ah, well. Finn, do you want to stay for dinner?” Poe mouthed “ _Told you_ ” at Finn with a wink.

“Um.” Finn looked at Poe, then back at Kes. “I think—I mean, thank you, but I think my parents want me home.”

“That’s alright. Some other time, then?”

“Uh, sure.” He stood up. “Well, nice meeting you—” _YOU JUST SAID THAT, FINN_ “—but I should be heading out.”

“Well, nice meeting you too, Finn.”

He turned back to Poe, grinning. “See you tomorrow, then?”

Poe leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “See ya, buddy.”

Finn turned to leave.

Once out of the house, it took everything in him to prevent himself from pumping his fist in the air and hollering. Instead, he reasonably texted Rey.

Be there in 15  
Also GOD I’m gay

He grinned widely, and sprinted the rest of the way home.

 

For what seemed like the hundredth time that morning, Finn squeezed Poe’s hand for reassurance.

“Stay calm, stay calm,” he muttered to himself as the trio walked into the locker room. “Oh, God.”

“You’re doing great, buddy.” Poe squeezed his hand back.

Rey, for her part, had her hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Give him hell!”

Finn laughed nervously. “I'll try my best.” Separating from the two, he stared at the door.

And knocked.

“Enter.”

With one last look back at Poe and Rey, he walked into the office. “Good morning, Coach.”

Coach Snoke was sitting in his armchair, looking straight at Finn with an unnerving expression. “What brings you here, Mr. Tyson?”

He took a deep breath. “I’m leaving the team.”

Snoke grunted. “Are you sure? You’re a good player—”

“ _Yes._ ” Finn looked the old bastard straight in the eyes. “I don’t care how good of a player I am, this is not what I want to do with my life.”

“Well, that’s a disappointment.”

_Your face is a disappointment._ Instead, he tilted his head up in defiance. “Too bad.”

He airily waved his hand. “You’re excused.”

“Am I off the roster for next year?”

“You’re _excused,_ Mr. Tyson,” said Snoke, slamming his hand on the desk. “Yes, you’re off the roster. And don’t ever let me see you back here.”

“Thank you,” said Finn coldly, leaving his office.

As soon as the door slammed behind him, his face broke out into a wide smile.

“So, how did it go?” asked Poe, already knowing the answer. Finn leaned in and hugged him. “See, I told ya, buddy!”

Rey let out a whoop, and pulled both of them into a bone-crushing hug.

Their celebration was, unfortunately, cut short by the ringing of the bell.

“Well, let’s head out,” said Rey, pulling away from the two. “Finn, I’ll see you at that stupid detention.”

“Small potatoes,” he replied as the trio headed out. “We’ve still got tonight to look forward to.”


	4. Epilogue--Belonging

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're basically done with the plot, now it's just time for a pointless bit of fluff lmao

Kay’s voice came back over the radio. “Alright, you’ve got four minutes until the show starts.”

Finn was smiling as he called out, “Thank you—four!” along with everyone else.

“Make us proud,” she said, then cut off.

Poe turned to Finn. “You ready?”

“I’m pumped,” said Finn. Poe grinned, and leaned in for a kiss. “Whoa, not with all the makeup!” Poe pouted as Finn held him at arm’s length. He rolled his eyes. “Later,” he whispered, winking.

He could hear Kay making the “and please, no cellphones” announcement to the crowd.

Finn held out his hand to Poe. “It’s time.”

He low-fived it. “Let’s do this.”

 

“…and here’s to my lovely aunt Esme—” Snap raised his glass at the Denny’s later that evening “—for taking the time to sew all our costumes along with her wife, they are the _best._ ”

“To Snap’s lesbian aunts!” shouted Jess.

“To Snap’s lesbian aunts,” everyone else repeated, and briefly clinked glasses.

The toasts around the large table continued, including “to the lighting crew” “to Mr. Statura and the orchestra” “to Organa, for her patience” (Jess said that one— _how fitting,_ thought Finn).

 “Here’s to our newbies, Finn and Rey, for doing an amazing job up there,” said Poe, raising his glass of orange juice. “Guys, I’m so proud to welcome you to the Ileenium drama team.”

Rey beamed, and high-fived Finn as everyone else shouted, “To the newbies!”

“So how’s that for not being able to get into anything?” she whispered, taking a sip of Finn’s milkshake (boys not included).

“Shut up,” he shot back, though he was smiling. “Also, get your own fucking milkshake, you animal.”

“Yeah, Rey,” said Poe, a little loudly. Rey sneered at him.

“Thanks, babe,” said Finn, kissing his cheek.

“Hey, no problem.” Poe put his hand on Finn’s. “By the way, how was tonight?”

“Fantastic,” said Finn, taking Poe’s hand. “I could keep this up for a few more weeks, I guess.”

“Good, ‘cause you’re stuck with us.”

“ _Oh nooo._ ” Finn pretended to swoon. “How can I deal with your evil ways?”

“Me? _Evil?_ ”

“You _totally_ slipped me tongue up there, you—” Rey gagged next to him. “—uh.”

“TMI,” she said, taking another sip of his milkshake. From across the table, Karé threw a wadded-up napkin at her.

“Stop stealing Finn’s shake, you _animal._ ”

“Would you rather I steal yours?” said Rey in a low voice, leaning in and waggling her eyebrows. Jess flicked her shoulder. “Babe, come on!”

Poe looked at them. “And I’m the evil one.”

“Yes, you are,” said Finn, leaning onto his shoulder.

The rest of the evening was spent with Snap telling bad jokes, Poe stealing bites of Finn’s food, and Rey getting in a napkin-tossing contest with Karé (Jess and Finn both rooted for Rey, obviously).

This was what he was missing back on the football team, he thought, as Poe distracted him with another kiss in an attempt to steal more hash browns. Years of practice for a sport he never enjoyed, and now here he was, doing something he loved alongside a bunch of other nerds like him.

He smiled softly to himself.

This was where he belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [@lesbiangffa](http://lesbiangffa.tumblr.com/) on tumblr hmu  
> 


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